Harbor Currents: NEWS April 4, 2013

Zerby Family Wins Suit Against LBPD
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMr1p6YFwOk]
LONG BEACH — The family of Doug Zerby, who police officers killed in 2010 while he pointed garden hose nozzle after mistaking it for a gun, won three counts of a wrongful death judgment against the Long Beach Police Department, April 4.

Jurors found that the Douglas Zerby’s 4th Amendment rights were violated, that the officers involved actions caused his death and that they acted with malice or reckless disregard for life.

According BelmontShore-Naples Patch, a federal court jury awarded $6.5 million to Zerby’s family, who was shot Dec. 12, 2010. The panel awarded $2 million to Mark Zerby, Douglas Zerby’s father, $1 million to Pam Amici, Doug Zerby’s mother, and $3.5 million to his son, River.
Lawyers agreed to the personal liability of officers Victor Ortiz and Jeffrey Shurtleff for $5,000 each in punitive damages, however those negotiations continue and might be dropped.

Controversial Dog Park Plans Changed
LONG BEACH — A controversial plan to build a dog park at El Dorado Park in Long Beach has recently changed.

The park now may be built on the north side of Spring Street rather than south of street. If so, Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske may have to provide the district funds to construct the park.

To date, The Friends of El Dorado Park have raised $12,000, the total cost to build the dog park is estimated to reach about $65,000.

The Parks and Recreation Department ultimately will decide on the location of the of the dog park.

The Truth About The Budget
LONG BEACH — Long Beach has a surplus for the coming fiscal year 2013-14 because of a $26 million increase in property taxes placed in redevelopment, not public employee pensions.
When the city put 42 percent of the city into redevelopment, it placed the tax increment into the redevelopment agency.

Ninety-eight percent of the funds collected went to administrative costs, salaries and debt services, which mean property taxes were not used for the city as a whole.

Photo by Betty Guevara

Muratsuchi Introduce Tracking System of Early Parolees
TORRANCE — On March 26, Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) hosted a press conference introducing Assembly Bill 810– a public safety bill related to prison realignment.
AB 810 is intended to help local law enforcement officials track offenders who have been released from state prisons as a result of the recent prison realignment.
“AB 810 will ensure our communities are prepared for the potential effects of realignment,” Muratsuchi said. “Currently, law enforcement agents do not have complete information on the offenders who are being released from state prisons into their counties. AB 810 would create an inter-county database to track offenders released from state prison.”

In 2011, prison realignment mandated the reduction of the state prison population by 30,000 inmates. Low-level offenders were transferred to county jails under the supervision of county and local law enforcement.

With no centralized, digital repository of offender information, counties and cities often lack critical information about former inmates. AB 810 would require the Attorney General to meet with law enforcement representatives to create an inter-county database to track offenders released from state prison.